Something of a 'surprise' drop, given that I usually discuss these things in excruciating detail! This is a web-series that we started shooting about 3 weeks ago, and which is now debuting with Episode 1! The film was shot by Ollie Craig (chilipie) and scored by Josh Loughrey (JoshL) so, as ever with my projects, there's more than a hint of Indietalk about it.

Here's the pitch: The Magic Circle is a brand new web-series which explores the lives, loves and relationships of a group of adult Harry Potter fans who really ought to have moved on with their lives… but the boy wizard continues to work his magic and the books continue to exert a powerful hold…

The comedy (well, light comedy) will definitely appeal more to Harry Potter fans than people who have never read the books or seen the movies, but I hope that there will be some broad appeal. After all, the show is really about THE PEOPLE and not about the books. Let that one sink in...

Reading your short description here I thought this would be like the show "The League"... instead it was literally a debate of the subtext of Harry Potter with one frustrated character who makes for decent comedy that leads to the black haired girl getting off a one-liner. Followed by that same girl ashamed of loving the biggest franchise in the world.

Also the books are technically adult novels... JK did not intent to make them for children, as she is not a YA author. However, she seems to be incapable of actually hitting that market directly i.e. The Casual Vacancy.

Thanks for the feedback guys. It's going down pretty well – especially amongst HP fans, for obvious reasons – I've just got to translate that A) into views and subcriptions, and B) into a sustainable financial strategy for producing more episodes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wheatgrinder

Very nice. I watched all of it and want to see what's next. I seldom get past 10 second with this type of material

I'm not sure I had you pegged for a Potthead, wheat. Maybe it's your kids' influence. I think the parents of Harry Potter readers will be one of our biggest markets.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkyCopeland

Also the books are technically adult novels... JK did not intent to make them for children, as she is not a YA author. However, she seems to be incapable of actually hitting that market directly i.e. The Casual Vacancy.

Not sure I agree with this. Can you link me to anywhere that she says that they were not intended for children? Tonally and marketing wise, the first four books are very clearly aimed at children, and I think that the progression in tone is in line with what you'd expect for an audience's natural ageing.

And I would say that I think she's hit the adult market pretty exceptionally with The Cuckoo's Calling and The Silkworm, even though I'd agree that The Casual Vacancy was a real misfire.

That was fun. Well done all around, and congrats. I only know the Potter franchise by being dragged by the wife to the theater to watch each movie and I'm generally aware of an amorphous Potterdom swirling about in the ether with their battles and skirmishes and endless discussions.

What's the plans for the future? That is to say, is the plot device for each episode similar, i.e., first a discussion of Harry minutiae, then an interaction of the characters on a personal level at the end? Just curious how you'll sustain it.

That was fun. Well done all around, and congrats. I only know the Potter franchise by being dragged by the wife to the theater to watch each movie and I'm generally aware of an amorphous Potterdom swirling about in the ether with their battles and skirmishes and endless discussions.

What's the plans for the future? That is to say, is the plot device for each episode similar, i.e., first a discussion of Harry minutiae, then an interaction of the characters on a personal level at the end? Just curious how you'll sustain it.

Again, nicely done!

Thank you, sir!

We've shot 3 episodes so far and they all follow the same basic structure: group discussion of an element of Harry Potter (the 'elements' are quite different though), with some character development and then a coda that looks more at the characters than Harry Potter. I think the balance is pretty good – to be honest, I reckon that avid Harry Potter fans would watch a series where characters chat in a sort of funny way about Harry Potter, even if it had no character development. But I wanted the series to be, most of all, about the characters, so each episode should progress their relationships a little bit more.

We've shot 3 episodes and there's definitely scope for more, however, it will be very difficult to keep the series going unless I can find some money from somewhere. I spent about £70 on the first 3 episodes in total, but I am reluctant to try and steal people's time and energy away for free again. So I'm hoping that I might be able to gather some small funds to shoot more episodes, but, for the time being, the most important thing is to gather an audience for the show.

Not sure I agree with this. Can you link me to anywhere that she says that they were not intended for children? Tonally and marketing wise, the first four books are very clearly aimed at children, and I think that the progression in tone is in line with what you'd expect for an audience's natural ageing.

I'm almost 100% certain I've heard her say she wrote it for children, or rather, she wrote it for her childhood self. It's the book she always wanted to read as a child but it didn't exist. Which is why I think it works so well.

I've reread her biography to find it, Conversations with J.K. Rowling in which she says she spent 5 years planning out the plot between the seven books and never intended for them to be children's books and that children's books picked her. However, when she finished the first manuscript, in her brother's cafe, she had searched the average word count of children's books to find they were 40,000 compared to her 90,000.

With no intended audience she proceeded publishing the first book. The publishers are the ones who really picked the audience, as she had no certain one in mind. However, when she heard that adults also read the books apparently that's what she remembers when she's feeling down, is that adults read the books also.

It would be pretty weird to write a book about children, using all the tropes of children's books, and crucially ripping off a load of children's books without actually intending to write a children's book. I think that's J.K. corporate spin.

Watched it. I think it's a good pilot episode. It had me intrigued, as a huge potter fan, and it has an air that this is all setup for the real story. Which is good, because it left me wanting more. On the other hand it has the potential to not be good, as I probably wouldn't give it more than another episode or two to get invested in the characters enough to keep going. I can nerd out on potter discussions all day, but I'm less inclined to sit on the sidelines for it, I'd rather participate.

So yeah, I think it's good you're planning on making this more about the characters/story. I'll definitely be following with interest to see where it goes